Announced in Las Vegas, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is a computer running Windows 11 with an Intel chip… and a computer running Android 13 with a Qualcomm chip. How and why ? In reality, this is an ingenious magic trick from Lenovo.
At first glance, the ThinBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid looks like a classic laptop. It looks like a PC, runs Windows 11 and has a trackpad and keyboard. However, when you pull on the screen, a brief animation makes Windows disappear and replaces it with… Android. Our first guess was that this is a Windows PC capable of emulating Android, in order to run applications from the Google ecosystem.
However, digging into its settings, we discovered that it uses an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip under Windows… but a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip when using Android. How is it possible ? In reality, the ThinBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is not a real computer. The screen embeds an Android tablet, the keyboard embeds the motherboard of a PC. Everything was announced at CES 2024 in Las Vegas on January 8.
Android/Windows: Lenovo’s ingenious design
In a way, Lenovo is lying when it claims to have designed a computer that runs both operating systems. There are two different devices in the ThinBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid:
- A 14-inch OLED tablet with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, multiple cameras, a stylus, speakers and its own battery.
- A central unit hidden under the keyboard and trackpad, with an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip. When the tablet is attached to the keyboard, it transforms into an external screen and puts Android to sleep. There is a second battery under the keyboard so that Windows does not shut down when you remove the screen.
Lenovo’s ingenuity is not to have designed a 2-in-1 device, but a tablet capable of becoming the screen of a PC hidden in a keyboard. If desired, a button allows you to take advantage of Android in PC configuration, by temporarily suspending Windows.
What is the point of such a product? Assuming everything works well, the ThinBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid allows you to enjoy the best of the two most used operating systems on the planet without having to carry two different devices (charging one recharges the other). At a time when Windows 11 can emulate Android apps, however, one might ask whether such a complex design was necessary.
What price and release date? Lenovo does not indicate this in its press release. The use of two chips for two distinct configurations suggests that the device will not be affordable.
Other Lenovo concepts
Also in Las Vegas, in addition to the renewal of some of its PCs, Lenovo came to present two fun concepts:
- Magnetic accessories to add a second screen, a mirror or a face that represents artificial intelligence to your computer.
- Laptop covers in digital ink, so you no longer have to stick stickers on your computer to recognize it.
These technologies will not be commercialized immediately but could be added to future products.
If you liked this article, you will like the following: don’t miss them by subscribing to Numerama on Google News.